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Huduma Namba Roll Out Stopped, Court Declares It Illegal

by Yahil Felix
written by Yahil Felix

High Court sitting on Tuesday morning rejected the decision by the state to roll out Huduma number cards ruling out that it was illegal.

Justice Jairus Ngaah during his ruling faulted the government for not conducting a data protection impact assessment before rolling out Huduma Number cards last year.

The High Court Has also ordered the government to carry out an impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma cards.

“Order of mandamus is hereby issued compelling the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment in accordance with Section 31 of the data protection act before processing of data and rolling out the Huduma cards,” ordered the judge.

This decision comes after Katiba Institute and law scholar Yash Pal Ghai challenged the roll out of the cards over lack of guarantees of theft of misuse of Kenyans’ personal information.

The lobby group and Yash Pal Ghai argued that the state failed to subject the fresh registration of Kenyans to data protection impact assessment (DPIA) which is a requirement under the law.

The assessment’s objectives is to flag risks that could reveal breaches of privacy, loss of data and unlawful use of information like names, date of birth, post codes and residences.

Currently, majority of Kenyans have received Huduma Namba cards after its roll out. The current national identity cards will be invalidated on December this year.

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Politics

Photo of Person Used on Huduma Card Sample Causes an Uproar

by Pauline Waswa
written by Pauline Waswa

Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna on Wednesday night shared two photos showing how a Huduma card will look like.

This came after Netizens and a section of media circulated another sample card that had an expiry date, with master card also being indicated on the card as a partner.

The circulation started shortly after Information, Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru announced that National Identity Cards will case being operational on December 2021.

CS Joe Mucheru. Photo/courtesy

CS Mucheru made the announcement while leaving the roll out of the Huduma card distribution.

Interior Cabinet secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i led a similar exercise in Kiambu County.

According to the two Cabinet secretaries, Kenyans who had registered for Huduma Namba last year will start receiving their cards on December 1, 2020.

The Huduma cards are set to replace the current National ID cards.

A fake sample of Huduma card that was circulating in the media. Photo/courtesy

With the image of a sample card doing rounds on social media, the government spokesperson had to come out and clarify.

However, the photo used on the sample card he shared caused an uproar, with Kenyans questioning why an image of a while woman had to be used.

Netizens had a problem with the woman on the sample card, who was identified as Martina Specimen.

However, the sample card shared by Oguna has no an expiry date, as compared to the one that had been circulated the media earlier.

Here are some of the reactions from Kenyans on the photo of a white woman used on the sample card.

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Gov’t Commences Generation & Issuance of Huduma Namba Cards

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

The government has commenced generation nd issuance of Huduma Namba cards and electronic Identity Cards.

This is after the High Court on January 30 agreed to the roll-out of the National Integrated Identification Management System in favour of the government.

The schedule for the roll out of the process is set to be announced later.

A three-judge bench ruled on Thursday that Huduma Namba is lawful.

The justices did, however, note that the collection of DNA and GPS data were not only unconstitutional but also intrusive and unnecessary.

In a statement on Friday, Spokesman Cyrus Oguna said the ruling allows the generation of Huduma Namba to eligible Kenyans who registered.

Oguna said they will give Scheduled dates for the collection and issuance of the cards.

In February last year, a petition was filed challenging the implementation of NIMS barring the government from proceeding with the generation of e-ID.

The case was filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Nubian Rights Forum and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR).

They questioned the implementation of a digital platform that will digitise and centralise records of vital life events of citizens and foreigners in Kenya.

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Huduma Namba System Outdated, Bound to Fail – IT Expert

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

A cybersecurity specialist from India has claimed that the Sh6 billion Huduma Namba system acquired by Kenya is archaic and will fail.

Anand Venkatanarayanan who has 21 years’ experience in the field was testifying in the case where Nubians have challenged the implementation of NIIMS.

Anand told a three-judge bench that the system has so many loopholes that can facilitate duplication, hence, the data is not secure.

“NIIMS thus is an archaic design compared to modern-day systems architecture and can be rightly thought of as a horse-bungee drawn by a lame horse on a digital highway. That it would fail and fall behind is a foregone conclusion,” he said.

He further argued that data leaks by centralisation and that this is not a perception but an outcome that can neither be avoided nor mitigated.

He said that in computer security, nothing is truly secure and there are only costs of benefits of hoarding data.

“Centralised databases such as Aadhaar and NIIMs, however, hoard so much data that the cost of benefit ration tilts definitely in favour of the attackers,” he added.

Anand claims that every study done in India of the Aadhaar Project which is very similar to NIIMS indicated that the costs are too high compared to the benefits it offered.

He claimed that the NIIMS project is functionally, architecturally and technologically very similar to Aadhaar project and suffers from the same flaws.

“While the Kenyan government may promise that it will not repeat the same mistakes as Aadhaar project, it has not provided evidence of technological capabilities to honour the promise,” Anand said.

He said his assessment was based on the government’s gross misreading of how NIIMS is not very different from Aadhaar

Justices Pauline Nyamweya, Mumbi Ngugi and Weldon Korir also heard that the Biometrics authentication is defined as a comparison between the biometric parameters IRIS or fingerprint versus what was stored during enrollment, it would be hence right to call is as a biometric comparison across time.

According to Anand, a central database will inevitably leak and compromise the personal data of the residents. 

“For instance, the number of times the Aadhaar database has leaked is beyond counting as even simple google searches reveal,” the court heard.

While harmonising the various databases that contain resident’s data is a laudable goal, the Kenyan government has not done a detailed cost-benefit analysis of such an approach and other alternatives.

Earlier in the day another witness Grace Bomu an expert in Digital data said there was no law to protect children’s digital data rights.

Bomu said that the way NIIMS is currently designed will not protect the information of the children. 

Anand who was stood down yesterday will take the stand again this morning to continue with his testimony.

In the case, the three-judge bench had ruled that Kenyans should not be compelled or threatened to give their personal information to the state.

The court also barred the state from sharing or disseminating the information collected with any organisations whether international or otherwise.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Kenya Human Rights Commission and Nubian Rights Forum had moved to court seeking the suspension of the collection of data from Kenyans under NIIMS.

The lobby groups argued the process interfered with an individual’s right to privacy.

CREDITS: The Star

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List of Crucial government services to be missed without huduma namba

by Mustafa Juma
written by Mustafa Juma

Barely two months ago, Kenyans were in a big scare following government’s threats on the registration of Citizens into the National Intergated Information Management system (NIIMS) using a unique number dubbed huduma namba.

Kenyans woke as early as 3:00 am to beat the governments deadlines in May this year as others chose to boycott the registration process. But do you think government’s threats were just mere?

Well, then you were wrong. Kenyans were notified of missing crucial government services should they not have huduma namba, which is now coming into reality soon.

The Government has proposed a bill that will lock out individuals without Huduma Namba from crucial services that are offered by the government.

The draft Huduma Bill 2019  seeks to make Huduma Namba compulsory.

The Government has proposed a bill that will lock out individuals without Huduma Namba from healthcare services and participating in the country’s election among other essential services.

What is your opinion on this bill?#HudumaNamba pic.twitter.com/MEBYDTeA8M

— ktn (@KTNKenya) July 18, 2019

The number is mandatory in paying taxes and accessing all government services including universal healthcare, renewal of driving licences, application for electricity connectivity, registration of a mobile number, opening of a bank account among others.

Enrolling your children into a public educational facility will be impossible without listing yourself under the National Integrated Identity Management System.

You will also not sell or buy land, or even acquire a passport without the vital document.

For business people to transact in the financial markets they will be required to provide their Huduma card.

When the roll out was being done, Kenyans were all over the social media protesting, with some saying that they were ready for consequences that were to come with boycotting the process.

Well, are you aware that there is a punishment? Any individual who wants to transact the listed services without the Huduma Namba will be jailed for one year or pay a fine of Ksh1 million, while unlawful production of the document will see one spend three years behind bars or Ksh3 million fine.

Individuals who give false information or make a false statement when providing information for entry into the NIIMS database will also face a Ksh5 million penalty or five years in jail.

Kenyans are now again all over social media protesting against the bill.

Some are questioning if there are any data protection laws in the country.

Some are even arguing that huduma namba is all about Raising Tax revenues and social control in a scheme to cater for the ever rising national debt.

What is your opinion on the proposed Huduma Bill 2019?

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